Posts: Federal Court of Australia

In a timely reminder about the importance of carefully drafting enterprise agreements, the Federal Court of Australia – Full Court has recently determined a dispute about the definition of “ordinary time earnings” in a particular enterprise agreement. In doing so, the Full Court confirmed that departures from the plain text of an enterprise agreement will not be justified (unless there is an absurdity or a very seriously anomalous result).

The Federal Court of Australia has issued one of its first penalty decisions since the High Court of Australia’s decision earlier this year of Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Pattinson [2022] HCA 13.

This blog is a timely reminder of the importance of correctly managing overtime hours and payments to avoid serious financial penalties.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) allows employers to provide high income employees with a “guarantee of annual earnings”. Whether an employee is provided with and accepts a guarantee of annual earnings has a significant impact on whether the terms of a modern award will apply to them.